Latest KFF Health News Stories
Alicia Keys Shines Light On Women And HIV
One in 32 African American women in the United States is likely to be diagnosed with HIV in her lifetime. “One in 32, think about that,” said singer-songwriter Alicia Keys, citing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistic at an event Monday. “Thirty years after we first heard of AIDS, it is really a […]
Got alarm fatigue? Some doctors and nurses do, according to The Joint Commission, a nonprofit hospital accrediting organization. In their latest Sentinel Event Alert, issued April 8, the commission highlighted the dangers that result when doctors and other health professionals develop “alarm fatigue” or become desensitized and immune to alarm sounds set off by medical […]
Programs Help Independent Artists Access Health Care
Updated at 10:50 a.m. When Corynn Stoltenberg, then 31, found out she was at high risk for cancer at a health fair in Minnesota, she hadn’t been to the doctor in 10 years. As a dancer and theater artist who supported herself by working at coffee shops and cleaning houses, she often was without health […]
Wait For Obamacare Price Tags Could Be Months
Last week Vermont became the first state to provide a glimpse of how expensive individual health insurance might be under the Affordable Care Act. Proposed rates there, while of questionable relevance to the rest of the country because of the state’s unusual insurance market, showed little change from current prices and reassured health law supporters […]
Harkin Accuses Administration Of ‘Robbing Peter To Pay Paul’
A Democratic senator chastised the White House Thursday for raiding the health law’s Prevention and Public Health Fund to pay for a program to help the uninsured sign up for coverage in new insurance marketplaces. “This is robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions […]
Minnesota Hospital Merger Talks Derail
Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services says it will focus on finding a permanent CEO now that rural health care giant Sanford announced Wednesday that it felt “unwelcome” and was cutting off merger discussions with Fairview. Fairview is one of Minnesota’s largest health systems and owns the University of Minnesota’s main teaching hospital. Sanford runs clinics in […]
Groups Seek To Fast-Track Efforts To Curb Costs, Boost Quality
Five veteran health care leaders representing insurers, hospitals, employers and consumers on Thursday outlined an ambitious set of recommendations aimed at slowing rising costs, focused mainly on changing the way America pays for health care. Many of the ideas draw on existing efforts, such as accelerating Medicare’s efforts to pay for quality rather than just […]
Colorado’s Pitch For New Business: Healthy, Lean Workers Cost Less
The cost of doing business may be lower in areas where there’s a “culture of health.” And that’s put Colorado, which has the lowest adult obesity rate in the nation, on the map for companies looking to relocate or expand. Kelly Brough is proud of this. She runs the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, and she’s […]
Medicare Effort To Cut Readmissions Isn’t Counting Patients Who Come Back To ER
A study published Tuesday says Medicare may be missing factors that lead to post-hospital health problems because it isn’t counting many discharged patients who come back to the emergency room but aren’t admitted. The study in Annals of Emergency Medicine looked at 11,976 patients discharged from Boston Medical Center, the largest safety net hospital in New […]
Hospitals In 5 States Clamp Down On Delivering Babies Before 39 Weeks
When hospitals commit to stopping the delivery of babies before 39 weeks gestation unless there is medical cause to do so, they can dramatically lower rates that can put babies at increased risk for serious health problems. A study published Monday in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology showed a group of 25 hospitals in five states were able to cut their […]
Study: States Lag On Tracking Potential Obamacare Loophole
What if there were a way for even small employers to escape some Affordable Care Act rules blamed for driving up costs? Some see self-insurance for medical care, which is exempt from the law’s taxes, benefit rules and price restrictions taking effect next year, as just such an opportunity. Self-insured firms finance most worker health costs and […]
Federal Judge Strikes Down Restrictions On Morning-After Pill
This story comes from our partner ‘s Shots blog. A federal judge in Brooklyn, N.Y., has ruled that the morning-after pill for emergency contraception must be made available over the counter to girls 16 and under. The ruling could end a more than decade-long battle over how easy or difficult it should be for teenage […]
Texas Legislature Weighing 5 Key Proposals To Limit Abortions
Anti-abortion forces in Texas achieved a major triumph in 2011, the last time the state legislature convened. They passed laws requiring a 24-hour waiting period and requiring all women seeking an abortion to undergo a fetal ultrasound. The idea was to force down abortion rates by changing women’s minds. A follow-up study indicated that abortions […]
GOP Members Call For Increased Spending To Cover Pre-Existing Conditions
Republicans who have spent the past three years blasting the health care overhaul as an overreach by the federal government said Wednesday the law didn’t allocate nearly enough money for a temporary program offering insurance coverage to those with pre-existing conditions. Citing financial concerns, the Obama administration last month stopped enrolling new people into the Pre-existing Condition Insurance […]
Despite Federal Delay, Minn. Vows To Have Small Business Options On New Health Exchange
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Workers at small businesses that buy health insurance on MNSURE — Minnesota’s new online marketplace — will have access to features that will be delayed in many other states. These marketplaces, also called exchanges, will offer health plans for individuals and small businesses, and they are being set up in each […]
Why You May Want To Reconsider That Plan With A Health Savings Account
Health plan deductibles keep getting higher — the proportion of workers with a deductible that topped $1,000 for single coverage nearly tripled in the past five years, to 34 percent. Since high-deductible plans often mean you pay more out of pocket for medical care, it might seem like a no-brainer to sign up for a plan that […]
No Rate Shock Seen In Proposed 2014 Premiums In Vermont
After years of anticipation, Vermont became the first state Monday to publish proposed 2014 individual health insurance rates under the federal health law. Despite Republican and insurers’ predictions, there was no “rate shock” in the new premiums, according to the Vermont governor’s office and insurance representatives. That state may not be the best barometer of the impact […]
IG Report Slaps Medicare For Not Recouping More Overpayment For Equipment
Medicare has made nearly $70 million in overpayments to suppliers of consumers’ medical equipment, and more than half of that money is unlikely to be recovered, according to a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General. Since 2009, Medicare has required suppliers of such durable medical equipment, which includes wheelchairs, walkers […]
Oregon Shows Costs Of Putting Medicaid Enrollees In Private Coverage
The Arkansas plan to expand Medicaid by paying for enrollees to buy private health insurance has been billed as a new option for states led by Republicans who are leery of the federal health overhaul. And it’s getting attention from Republican leaders in Florida and Ohio, among other states. However, the strategy is not new. […]
Obamacare Is No Stumbling Block For Taxpayers This Year
If you haven’t done your taxes yet, this ad from H&R Block might make you feel even more anxious. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w-zoseqxUw Meg Sutton, H&R Block’s senior advisor for tax and health care services, offered some details on what the big changes are. “So the big changes are, really, just filing that return,” she explained. “And so, getting into […]
